chapter ten | let me help you

ALL NIGHT, MILA had stayed in her living room, a laptop sitting on her lap. She had been writing songs, and shopping around for merch from her favorite artists. As of now, the only artist she had any luck with was Taylor Swift, she was lucky that she had a sale going on that day. While the merch shopping was okay, the songwriting part was hell.

For something that used to be so easy, it was now the most impossible thing she's ever tried to do.

She tried all of her methods: going for walks, sitting outside, thinking of her favorite ships in TV shows, and running ideas by Gracie. She's tried everything, it felt like she was just wasting time. She had taken a sip from the cup of tea that she made herself earlier that day, in an attempt to calm her nerves, soon going back to staring at the many instrumental tracks that have been recorded. She listened to each one multiple times, waiting for something to click, but nothing did. She let out an annoyed sigh, soon grabbing her phone and heading toward the kitchen.

At this point, she blamed the lack of food for the absence of good ideas. She set her phone down on the kitchen counter, soon opening the freezer, looking for something quick and simple so she could try to get some work done.

She searched for a few moments before shutting the freezer door. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but she felt like everything was going wrong like the universe was against her having a possibly successful career. Once she had decided to give up and doordash something, she heard her phone begin to ring and a ringtone started playing. Without checking the caller ID, she accepted the call and held the phone to her ear. "Hello, this isn't the right time." She spoke, her tone showing how busy she was.

"Are you home right now?" She heard a female voice on the other end, she then heard what sounded like wind hitting the mic. It was Gracie and she was driving, she wondered where she was going.

"Yeah, I am. I'm just working though."

"Get dressed, I'm taking you on a date."

While she did appreciate the fact that she had taken the initiative in the newfound relationship, she couldn't just drop everything and go out. She had given herself a deadline and she couldn't abandon it. "I would love to, but I can't just abandon work. I just can't right now." She tried to argue. She did want to go out with her girlfriend, she just couldn't right now.

"I don't care. You need a break and I want to see you, so I'm taking you on a date. It's a win-win here."

She already knew that there was no use arguing with her. Mila would agree that she needed a break, she agreed it could help her. "Alright, let's do it." She gave in, a small smile now displayed on her face.

"Great, I'll be there in like fifteen minutes."

Before she could get an answer in, Gracie ended the call. She let out a happy sigh and made her way toward her bedroom where she would start getting dressed for her date with Gracie.

The two had left the local theatre, laughing as they talked about scenes from the movie they had just watched. Mila had taken a moment to look down and quickly texted someone back. Once she had sent the text, she heard what sounded like the sound of a phone camera.

She looked up to find Gracie holding her phone up in the air, the camera app displayed on the screen in selfie mode. She had just taken pictures of the two as they walked the streets of LA.

"Do you plan on posting those?" Mila asked her curiously. She earned a nod from Gracie, watching as she opened her Instagram app. "You could at least get my good side." She teased, letting out a chuckle.

Gracie chuckled with her, soon opening her camera once again. "I can make that happen." She spoke, wrapping an arm around her. She held her phone at a good distance once again and planted a kiss on her cheek, soon taking the picture. Once the picture was taken, she looked at the picture and then showed it to Mila. "I think this one turned out great. Look at your smile in it, it's so cute!" She pointed out. She went to her lock screen, holding down on it to get the edit option open, and made a new one using the picture of the two of them. "It's my new favorite picture." She added, showing her the screen.

"Of course, you'd say that." She teased, now poking at her sides causing her to laugh. The two had settled down from their laughing fits, walking in a comfortable silence. Now that she was out with Gracie and had time away from everything, she could think a little clearer and process thoughts. "Thanks for forcing me to get out of the house, I was stressing myself out when you called." She admitted, soon earning a look from Gracie.

It was a look of worry. Now that she'd seen Mila in a stressed state, she hated how bad it got. She hated it more that she didn't tell her what was going on. "Songwriting again I assume?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, I just have so many ideas and rhythms in my head, but I don't know how to get them on paper or make them make sense with lyrics."

"You could have told me about it. I'm always around to help you when you need or want it, we're in a relationship now, or at least the talking stages of one. Let me help you."

Deep down, Mila knew she was right. She's offered to help her many times, but she rarely accepted it because she didn't want to add more things to her plate and bother her. It wouldn't hurt to get some help from her. "Okay, fine. The help would be nice." She admitted, letting out a sigh.

Gracie smiled in response, taking Mila's hand in hers. From that point, the two continued the walk toward their next destination for their date. She wasn't sure where they were going but trusted that Gracie had everything under control.

For now, her mind was at ease.

Mila sat in bed that night, playing around with the many song ideas that she had. The more she hummed them to herself, she got what she thought was the best idea.

She picked up her guitar that was leaning against the bed from earlier that day. The sound of guitar chords played as she strummed multiple chords to find the perfect opening. She looked at each unfinished song in front of her, quietly singing them in different orders, hoping it would make sense and fit the way she wanted.

The one thing that she thought was impossible, suddenly wasn't that bad anymore. It felt better that she solved the problem herself.

She had taken a page from Taylor's book. The more she played it and pieced everything together, the more the song ended up being the saddest thing she's ever written but sounded like the complete opposite. This was the song she always wanted to write, but could never get it to work. Now, she finally did it.

She did the one thing she couldn't figure out for so long.

The more she played, the song practically spilled out. She started on a new page, writing the old lyrics in the order she liked the most, and then added new lyrics as they came out. Written neatly above certain lyrics were the chord changes, a chart of how to play them next to the chords she struggled to remember. The song was now mostly done, it still needed some work, but it was closer to finished than it was before. She was becoming the songwriter that Gracie said she could be since she first told her about her problem.

While she was distracted, her bathroom door opened, some leftover steam from the shower making its escape. Once Mila noticed, she looked over to see Gracie walking out wearing fresh clothes and drying her hair with the towel that she had given her earlier. "Is that the song you were having trouble with all day?" She asked curiously and approached the bed, taking a seat next to her.

Mila nodded in response, putting the guitar back on its stand. "Yeah, I think I got it to go somewhere for once. Not to mention, I did it all by myself." Mila replied proudly, soon earning a kiss on the cheek as she felt Gracie's arms wrap around her.

She laughed as Gracie took the opportunity to pull her down, kissing her face a few more times before she spoke again. "I'm so proud of you. I could hear it from the bathroom and it sounded amazing, Mila." She complimented with the biggest smile on her face at the sight of how proud Mila was of herself. "I told you that you could do it and you did, I know it's going to be your biggest song and when it hits number one on the charts, I'll be there with a cake to celebrate." She added.

Mila chuckled at the statement before turning to face her and flashing her a smile. "I truly do appreciate that." She replied, her tone showing how thankful she truly was. "I'm happy to have you in my life."

"It's the same for you, pretty girl."

Without a second thought, Mila pulled her into a kiss, and then the two cuddled in Mila's bed. Mila couldn't ask for a better partner, she made sure to show it every day.

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AUTHORS NOTE!

act one is now over! i'm

so excited for act two

and i hope you guys are

too. i hope you enjoyed

and i hope there's no

mistakes!